Review: Wren ‘Black Rain Falls’
With Black Rain Falls, their third full length, Wren marry the lustre and polish of the very best post-metal influences you can think of with a sparseness and punch more often found in prime noise-rock. The growing influence of producer Scott Evan’s band Kowloon Walled City’s latter output has helped the band find their own place, and it is a golden habitat.
Opener Flowers Of Earth has all this in spades as Wren mine a rich atmosphere before picking up one of those riffs they have always excelled in, dragging and slow but with the inevitability of life and decay. There is beauty in this, but buried deep, well below the topsoil. Bellowed vocals from Owen Jones sit atop a gut-punching baseline as the band refuse to be rushed through a frosted mid-section. Guitars crunch in as the tempo ticks back up, dragging a rhythm section that always seems to be pulled towards an eventual screamed collapse. This opener stands as a statement of stylistic intent as well as a harbinger of the quality to come.
Fans of the band’s first record Auburn Rule will know how Wren are thematically anchored within the natural world, musical impressions often mirroring titular references to flora and fauna. Toil In The Undergrowth follows this formula again, with an evocative crawling opening giving way to squalls of feedback and pummelled percussion as the listener is invited to imagine the struggles of our protagonist. A pounding riff simplifies proceedings as those post-metal influences return, the slow build inexorably headed towards chimed percussion and a squalling finale.
Those reverberating guitars return in the intro to Metric Of Grief, a track that feels quintessentially Wren with screamed and echoed vocals sitting over the huge punching bassline, sharp drum sound and an overall distant siren call feel to the song.
Exceptionally impressive…
Reminiscent of the emotional toll of Neurosis’ A Sun That Never Sets in maintaining paradoxical warmth and bleakness, Metric Of Grief ends far too soon, a four-minute song that should be ten. The band know what they’re doing here, and just as the listener is invited in to understand and appreciate where we’re heading, the track ends, leaving a feeling of unfulfilled potential.
It would be trite to remark on the listener, or indeed reviewer, having any understanding of the bands’ personal grief, however, it is remarkably skilled how Wren so regularly illustrates their subject with meta-textual ease. When lyrics are obscured in our genre, this can often simply be referred to by its title, Wren go far beyond and are able to convey feeling and effect through their songwriting craft. Exceptionally impressive.
The band will be touring this record in late February with four shows across England. I highly recommend you attend as with the strength of this material allied to their skill as one of the best live bands in the UK at the moment, they promise to be amongst the most outstanding gigs you’ll witness this year. Hopefully, summer festivals and more shows will be added to allow this excellent record to be revealed to more willing listeners.
Label: Church Road Records
Band Links: Official | Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Ian M
